The Imperial Rule
by The Muffin Slayer
Summary: Just a regular day in the Fairy Tail guild. Suddenly the doors open and a group of strangers walk in..Find out who they are and what they want
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 – Introductions**

**This is my first ever fanfic. I thought it'd be a challenge to write about two of my favourite anime(s) and I wasn't wrong. (Many thanks to my good friend who's reading this, who helped me out with a lot of ideas and suggested improvements). If you read my story and like it/are interested then I'd be more than happy to continue writing this story. Just a word of notice; At the time of writing this first chapter I still have yet to catch up on DxD's light novel volume 16, however I am up to date on Fairy Tail's anime (I'm refraining from reading the manga for the time being because the anime is due to return in 15 days [again at the time of publishing this] and I'd prefer to see moving images when given the chance). Thanks for taking your time reading this and enjoy the opening – constructive criticism is welcome.**

It was a normal day in the Fairy Tail guild; Natsu and Gray were fighting (again), Erza was knocking the two of them around, Elfman was shouting "Man!" over and over, Gajeel soon got himself involved in the fray (much to Natsu's pleasure), Wendy was chatting to Carla (with Happy presenting the latter with fish – which she brusquely refused) and Lucy was sitting at her usual place at the bar pondering whilst Mirajane cleaned the glasses.

"What're you thinking about?" asked Mirajane.

"Nothing" Lucy replied "Just bored…"

"Well why don't you take a job with Natsu and Happy?" she asked.

"Well we DID go on one just this morning, just catching a few bandits nothing too hard and it was fun but I'm just tired- ", suddenly Gray came crashing down on top of Lucy after a blow from Gajeel sent him flying. "Told you you're not as strong as me ice –boy!" shouted Gajeel smiling.

"What was that you blunt bastard?!" Gray shouted back as he watched Gajeel pay for lapse of concentration by getting hit in the face by Erza. The strong mage then turned around and clubbed Natsu to the ground whilst he tried to jump her from behind. "You'll need to be faster than that Natsu" she warned him.

A seething and jealous Juvia watched Gray from behind a pillar get up off of Lucy and rejoin the fight. The main hall erupted again as Gray and Natsu jumped back into the ever violently increasing fight.

"Just like always" laughed Lucy "Not one day's ever quiet in this guild is it?" she asked Mirajane.

"If there were days like that, it wouldn't be Fairy Tail would it?" she replied with a smile on her face.

"No, I guess not" Lucy smiled as she said.

The rumble carried on for a few more minutes before the Guild Master Makarov using his Titan magic to enlarge his body to huge proportions stomped on nearly everyone in the guild. "WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU KIDS ABOUT FGHTING?!... DON'T DO IT HALF HEARTEDLY – PUT ALL YOUR BACK INTO IT" he advised everyone. Everyone cheered at his words and then proceeded to carry on with the brawl.

Wendy and Carla came over and sat next to Lucy. "Do you think Erza-san gets a laugh out of beating Natsu-san and Gray-san up?" she asked Mirjane and Lucy.

"Maybe she does – but don't let her hear you saying that!" warned Lucy. Wendy shuddered at the thought of facing a scary Erza – and it was NOT something she'd like for sure. The tiny Dragon Slayer paled in comparison to the S Class mage when it came to raw magical power and Wendy did not fancy the idea of being at the receiving end of one of Erza's strikes. Wendy constantly saw people like Gajeel and Natsu getting beaten up by Erza and they were both literally and figuratively years ahead of her in terms of strength , granted they WERE 5 years older but still…She turned back to her conversation with the girls.

"Why don't you join the fight Wendy?" asked Lucy jokingly.

"You know she's frail and she hasn't mastered her offensive spells yet!" Carla shot back.

"I'm just joking Carla" Lucy said. "I know Wendy's much more mature than most of our guildmates" she said as she looked around the hall littered with limp bodies. The only ones remaining standing were Natsu, Gray, Elfman, Erza and Gajeel. Everyone knew the outcome now. And a few minutes later Erza stood triumphant over her fellow guild members with the other four piled on top of one another, still fuming. "She's a man…" Elfman said weakly. The other three didn't hasten to correct him.

"Looks like you boys need to train a bit harder" Erza smiled good naturedly as she advised her fallen comrades "Today was a bit tougher than usual, granted we all did train hard for three months before the Grand Magic Games and even during the tournament we all became stronger and that's a good thing".

"The next time we fight I'll win" said Natsu getting up "I'll make sure of it". Gray and Gajeel echoed similar sentiments. "And I'll be ready" Erza replied.

Just then the main doors of the guild opened to reveal a group of people at the entrance. At first the sunlight obscured the guild members' vision, but eventually the strangers came into sharper focus. The one leading the group had long flowing red hair that reached down her lower back. Natsu said "Look its Erza!"

"I'm right next to you idiot" Erza said sternly "And anyways that person looks different".

"She's right" Gray said. The Fairy Tail members watched the strangers advance through their guild and come at a stop a few metres before Erza. The red haired woman was flanked by three males – all three who had strange looking contraptions on their arms and to their left and right a group of girls all of different sizes. The red haired woman in the middle asked Erza "Where is Makarov?"

"I presume you mean _Master _Makarov" Erza said stressing the word "master" signifying its importance. "Ah there you guys are" said Master Makarov strolling up to the group. "Come, we have important matters to discuss". The group followed him through a set of doors behind the bar. The moment they were gone the whole hall burst out into murmurs all wondering the same thing – who were those guys? Natsu shouted "The guy to that girl's right looked strong. I wanna fight him".

"You idiot, you don't even know what type of magic he uses!" said Gray.

"What did you call me slanty eyes?!" Natsu said.

"What, you wanna go at it again you ass?!" Gray said not backing down.

"You two shut up!" said Erza. "For all we know they could be very important. Hardly anybody requests private meetings with the Master so

it must be" she concluded thoughtfully.

"They looked too young to be members of the Magic Council. Actually they looked like your age Erza-san" chimed Wendy.

"They probably are. But what do they want with a private meeting with Master?" Erza thought. Nobody could think of a logical explanation. A few minutes later Master Makarov and the strangers came out apparently having finished their meeting. "Everyone I'd like your attention please" Makarov said, clearing his throat. "As you all know theImperios Droconos has recently had a spike of activity according to the Magical Council's reports and to the best of our ability we and the other legal guilds have been keeping them in check. However their recent attempts and shall we say "excursions" have resulted in the deaths of many innocent people and also the destruction of many important buildings"

"But don't we do destroy important buildings all the time Gramps?" Natsu interjected

"Yes we do Natsu but we do it by accident, whilst pursuing justice and they certainly do not occur as a result of mindless terrorist attacks. There recent attacks left seventy four people dead and a hundred and three injured" Makarov replied.

"Those guys are sick" Gray said solemnly

"They're not manly at all" a dejected Elfman said.

Natsu punched his hands together, flames enveloping his fists "I'll wipe every last one of them out by myself if I have to..." and everyone looked empathetically towards him. "But enough of their misdeeds for now. I have yet to introduce our guests" Makarov continued. "If you'd like to…" he said turning towards the red haired woman and her friends.

The woman cleared her throat and said "As far as we understand these so called "dark mages" have been harassing both the innocent and the powerful alike. They seem to have many different motivations as to why they commit the atrocities they do. I have come here with my friends to help members of Fairy Tail sort out this problem and fix the wrongs they have committed"

Erza, displaying her usual lack of manners bluntly asked "Who are you guys?"

Natsu (suddenly looking interested again) interjected "And what type of magic do you guys use? What're those things on those guys' arms?"

The red haired woman smiled and said "My name is Rias Gremory and these are my devils."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - Umbra**

**I've had a few friends "spoil" the Fairy Tail manga for me but I don't know much about the actual story post Grand Magic Games arc (i.e where the anime stopped – Natsu & Gajeel vs Sting and Rouge) but I've decided to implement what little I DO know about post GMG Fairy Tail into this story since DxD's main characters ARE devils essentially. But before you go running off screaming "SPOILERS!" let me stress that I'll clearly indicate when a spoiler will occur with asterisks (again anything that's post anime ending) and I'm only including them because it fits with the DxD concept so well – saying that it'll probably only happen like twice throughout this whole chapter so you've nothing to worry about. (Don't worry for the people who read this chapter NOT reading the spoiler parts won't affect the plot in any major way-if that makes sense). Oh and I forgot to add a disclaimer in my previous chapter…so here it goes (for this chapter too - better to get the legal jargon out of the way I guess). None of the characters mentioned in this story are my own work - All credit goes to Hiro Mashima and Ichiei Ishibumi for their respective series' (although I DO make a few of my own up).**

"Wait, what do you mean "devils"?" asked a confused Natsu, scratching his head.

"What I mean is that we are all literally devils – beings with demonic powers" Rias put simply. "Most of my servants" (she said as she gestured behind her) "were once humans like all of you here, but at the verge of their deaths I gave them a second chance at life. However the rule was that they had to serve me for eternity."

"When you say servants…" Natsu began cautiously

"No I don't mean servants as a harsh term. I don't hurt them or abuse them in any way whatsoever, I treat them like family and we work together as family…unless they disobey my orders, right Issei?" she said looking at him

"Errm…let's move on please?" Issei said sheepishly, remembering the time when he left on a mission without his master's permission and was punished for it…_serverly_.

Erza looked at Natsu, Gray and Lucy smirking "Maybe I was too soft on you guys", with the other three looking away remembering thesuccessful yet illegal mission _they _undertook when Lucy first joined the guild.

Rias laughed "Well that's all in the past. The important thing is that they've learnt their lesson".

After Rias had finishing introducing and explaining her peerage (and) system, the functioning of the Underworld, Sacred Gears (items that are as powerful as they are rare and when mastered have the ability to kill a god), the Longinus (the thirteen top tier Sacred Gears that are all unique – and after answering nearly everyone's questions) and most importantly HOW they'd reached this new dimension, most of the Fairy Tail members seemed in shock. *** **They had not expected to meet _real _devils so soon after their battle with Tartarus, the guild which had manipulated the use of Curses instead of Magic and had introduced them to a new breed of Slayer, joining the Dragon Slayers and God Slayers– the Devil Slayer. *****

Makarov then decided to form a group to conduct reconnaissance on the dark guild's HQ since the there was a spike in their activity and he didn't like the sound of that. Though he didn't _want _them to engage in a fight with the dark guild, he held very little doubt that things would eventually end in fight between his children and the dark mages regardless.

Since there was a high chance of things getting out of hand, Makarov chose Team Natsu (plus Wendy who could offer her usual support as well as heal) to accompany Rias and only three members of her peerage (for the time being) along with herself – Yuuto Kiba, the wielder of the Sword Birth Sacred Gear, Asia Argento, the wielder of Twilight Healing and Issei Hyoudou, the wielder of one of the mid-tier (though still immensely powerful) Longinus Sacred Gears – Boosted Gear.

The five mages and four devils set off east, out of Magnolia towards the dark guild's HQ discussing tactics and strategies that they planned to use whilst performing said reconnaissance. Once the group had emerged from the other side of a forest, the guild came into sight they decided to take up the positions that Happy and Carla had scouted from the bird's eye view that the Exceed had.

"I'm surprised Natsu hasn't gone charging in like he always does, storming the front door down" Gray muttered to the rest of his team. "I heard that slanty eyes – and don't count me out as not being able to rush them anyway!" growled Natsu who was a few metres ahead.

"Maybe because he finally understands how serious these guys are?" Wendy suggested.

Lucy laughed nervously "Yeah like that'll EVER happen."

Erza said "He may be headstrong at times but when he start fighting his mindset changes drastically"

"Let's hope there's little of that for today at least" said Rias joining in the conversation. "I would hate for our cover to be blown so early on"

"Agreed" said Erza.

The two teams then split up and started their mission. Roughly twenty minutes in Gray sent a message to everyone via telepathy, thanks to Erza who had set up a connection prior to them splitting up. (She had learned the basics and the usefulness of being able to communicate through the use of said magic from Warren.) "I can see a group of them hauling what looks like crates or maybe container of some sort into some vehicles"

"What sort of crates?" Kiba asked

"Not too sure actually; From what I can see they're pretty sealed and each one of those guys handling the boxes have some sort of magic bubble surrounding their heads most likely to protect them from whatever's in those boxes" Gray replied

"Could it be some sort of gas?" Wendy asked.

As the final vehicles were loaded the y started up and steadily moved towards the group who had now reassembled to decide what action to take next. "Remember when we walked _through _the forest, we saw wide tracks? Maybe these shady guys use the cover of the forest to make their way across without being noticed into the main city, to dispatch their stuff wherever it's needed" Issei suggested. "That could be possible" Erza said. "Let's follow them and see where they lead us too" the group agreed.

Using the cover of the tress, the group (all enhanced with Wendy's _Vernier _spell) speedily pursued the trucks; however not long before they reached the other side of the forest going back towards the main city, the three trucks stopped abruptly. The group did too, watching from the cover of the trees, curious as to why the trucks had stopped.

"Wonder why they stopped…" Asia whispered

"I guess we're about to find out" Rias said.

A man in wearing a black cargo pants, gloves, sunglasses as well as a plain red tee shirt jumped out the middle truck and stood facing the general direction of the group. "Listen you bunch of self-proclaimed heroes, I know you guys are there so stop hiding and come out" the man's voice did not carry a hint of irritation rather he seemed almost amused by the prospect of being tailed. "I said come out, don't make me destroy every tree in this forest in order to find you" he said playfully.

Everyone was thinking the same thins _"How did he know we were tailing him?"_

Suddenly a blast of white…_something_ blew the massive tree apart exactly where the group where hiding and suddenly they were exposed.

"So it's Fairy Tail's most infamous team as well as four…other people" the stranger smiled mischievously. "Who ARE you four anyway?" the stranger asked looking at the devils almost nonchalantly.

Rias stood firm in front of her servants and most of the group said proudly "My name is Rias Gremory and these are my devils"

"Who the hell are YOU?!" shouted Natsu jumping forward to join Rias.

The stranger began to laugh loudly. "Devils you say?" he asked "That's just perfect…You want to know why? It's because I am Umbra, an S Class mage of Imperios Droconos and a Fire Devil Slayer."

Natsu was surprised "A Fire Devil Slayer? That's new…" he said, his fist lighting up in flames.

"Oh I know of your antics and your power Salamander, I know that you are the son of Igneel the Flame Dragon King" the Devil Slayer said eyeing Natsu

"Well then you'll also know about Fairy Tail's knack of defeating dark guilds then" said Gray putting his fists together getting ready for what was about to kick off,

Issei on the other hand became nervous _"The son of a dragon? A DEVIL Slayer? What sort of mages does this world have?" _he thought - although he stopped thinking and he too sprang forward to help Natsu and Gray as it looked as though they were about to engage in a fight.

"_I'll need to be careful though" _Issei thought _"He might be able to seriously harm me if he is what he says he is"_

"Err…Umbra what do we do?" said a few of the grunts

"Take care of the rest of the group if you can…although Titania might be a serious problem" he muttered looking straight at Erza.

"I'm right here, come and get me if you dare" she challenged requiping into her Purgatory armour.

"We'll take care of these guys" Erza said to Natsu and Issei "You two work on taking that guy down…and quickly"

"Be careful Issei" Rias said leading the rest of her devils away from the chaos that was about to ensue.

Gray looked at Natsu "You'd better beat his ass down or Gajeel won't let this through."

Natsu grinned "I don't intend on losing this one". He looked at Issei "You ready?"

"Yeah - Let's go" Issei said to Natsu.

"Ah a fight? Let's see if I can make quick work of you two" Umbra said enveloping his fists in white flames…

**Sorry if this chapter seems a little short, I just want to spend more time trying to build the story up and so I've left the fight until the next chapter. Thanks for reading.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - Demolition**

**Hey guys I'm back. Sorry for the long wait, I've been really busy as of late. I decided to catch up with the Fairy Tail manga seeing as I found it difficult to wait every week for a new episode when the possibility of being able to find out what happens was readily available. Right now the Tartarus arc is going strong (still waiting for a certain someone to reveal their connection to a certain Fairy Tail mage] and so far it's been more plot development than fights (which is a welcome change). Also considering that I'm up to date on the manga (at the time of posting this) I decided to make up a few powers of the Devil Slayer seeing as we know literally nothing about them. Most of the characters mentioned in this story are not of my work - All credit goes to Hiro Mashima and Ichiei Ishibumi for their respective series' (although I DO make a few of my own up). Anyway enough of me rambling, here's chapter 3 – Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it. =D**

_**Somewhere a few hundred miles out to sea…**_

The choppy waters lapped against the sharpened rocks that constituted towards the base of the guild's foundation. The guild itself was a large, vertical and almost crooked tower that stood almost as though proud to be able to withstand the force of one of nature's most powerful elements. It was the primary base of operations for the guild known as Imperios Droconos. The building situated to the east of Magnolia was simply a guise, used to distract the Magic Council from the guild's true location, lest the council members fire Etherion upon it, destroying it completely. Imperios Draconos was a name that rolled off the tongue of either one wanting to be employed by the guild, or hunting it down. . Its name terrorised most of Fiore; bar the stronger legal wizard guilds who had their fair share of trouble dealing with such enemies. Though it may have been primarily vertical, the guild did have a sizeable girth. It consisted of many different levels, each with their own different purposes. One such level was used as a meeting for the heads of the guild; it's strongest members; the elite few who contributed most to the destruction that occurred in their wake… Those that were feared yet respected within their own guild. Subordinates who walked past them bowed their heads in respect, though most of the elite were irritated with such behaviour, feeling it to be a useless gesture. Whenever one was questioned, he would break out in a cold sweat, fearing that the wrong answer would lead to his demise…though nothing of the sort had occurred…at least not for a long time.

Inside one of the highest levels of the guild, five members stood in a circle all observing a lacrima that showed them the current location of each member that was currently on a mission. Currently only two out of the seven were not present.

"It seems as though Umbra has engaged the enemy once again." commented the leader in a deep, commanding voice.

"Umbra enjoys his fights … I think Salamander may actually prove to be a half-decent opponent, given how he has a habit of persisting, the little shit!" another voice, a woman's, spat.

"Be that as it may it should not hinder Umbra's ability to destroy him. Salamander may underestimate him given how he is now aware that Umbra is a fire type mage" the deep voice replied.

"What about the new group…the so called devils?" another voice asked, this time a different male voice.

"Ah yes… Rias Gremory and her peerage. They should not be underestimated just like the rest of Fairy Tail. That was the mistake the Baram Alliance committed. Oracion Seis were overpowered by the sheer force of the Allied Forces and were weak willed, Grimoire Heart thought themselves arrogant and powerful simply because they had access to Lost Magic and Tartarus…Tartarus unsurprisingly held up well against Fairy Tail for a long time. However after the demise of their master and the sudden disappearance of Zeref, they lost their advantage and were subsequently defeated. However the Baram Alliance's biggest error was that they were not fighting Fairy Tail for themselves, they were fighting to revive Zeref. Imperios Droconos does not care for Zeref, our intentions and goals are different from the Baram Alliance. And we will succeed in our mission" the leader explained.

"But for now let us focus on the goals at hand…" the leader said turning back to watch the lacrima.

The other two members did not speak.

_**Back in the forest with Natsu and Issei…**_

"Sheesh this guy's tough!" Natsu shouted after recovering from an attack by back flipping away "You alright?" he asked Issei.

"Yeah I'm good." The latter replied.

The two had been engaging Umbra for the best part of ten minutes. Neither side was showing any signs of letting up however. The trees surrounding the fight had been levelled leaving nothing but a clear flat area for a few metres around. Several tress were still burning, others were smoking and had been blackened by the destruction. Such was the intensity of their battle.

"It looks like the two of you aren't much of a challenge…You're boring me" Umbra said almost lazily.

"Oh yeah…_Fire Dragon's Roar_!" shouted Natsu aiming and hitting Umbra dead centre. The fire engulfed the Devil Slayer as it expanded upon contact creating a large ball of flame that engulfed the Devil Slayer. "You got him!" Issei said. However it was not to be….

Natsu growled as Umbra walked out of the intense and blazing fireball seemingly unfazed. "Do you think you're the only one who's resistant to fire?" Umbra asked "Are you really that foolish Salamander? (No wait don't answer that). Did I not tell you that I am a Fire Devil Slayer? _Fire Devil's Scream!_" he shouted as he expelled white fire out of his mouth as a very high speed towards Natsu. The Dragon Slayer was not quick enough to dodge this time and was caught in the attack, which exploded on contact and created a fireball similar to the one that occurred mere seconds ago, however this time the white fire affected a far larger area than the Dragon Slayer's breath attack had. Natsu then began to inhale the white flames…Or at least _tried _to. "Why can't I suck these flames in?" he shouted all the while taking damage from the attack.

"You fool! You think you can inhale the flames of a Devil Slayer? You think your filthy body is worthy of inhaling purifying flames?! Dragons may be majestic creatures, however that does not mean they are pure!" he screamed. "With these flames I will make you cease from existence!" and with a flick of his hand Natsu was thrown backwards and collided into the trunk of a tree that was far behind him.

"Natsu!" Issei bellowed, worrying about the Dragon Slayer. "_Boost_!" shouted Issei's Scared Gear, the Sacred Gear that had the ability to double the occupant's power every ten seconds – the only limitation being the user's own strength - was powering up. "_Dragon Shot_!" Iseei shouted aiming a highly concentrated beam of red energy at Umbra, who narrowly dodged causing the attack to slice through the trees behind him. "Oh looks like the devil can play" Umbra said slyly.

"_Fire Devil's Strike_!" Umbra shouted as he rushed with a fire enhanced fist towards Issei aiming for his chest. Issei rolled to his left and narrowly dodged the attack which left Umbra wide open – "_Dragon Shot_!" Issei shouted again hitting the Devil Slayer at point blank range. The attack ripped through his left arm, causing a large hole to appear through his bicep muscle and part of the left side of his body and had propelled him back ten feet.

"Now that's gotta hurt!" Natsu said standing up after recovering from the attack.

Natsu ran past Issei and began aiming at the now stunned mage "_Fire Dragon's Iron Fist_!" he shouted as he punched Umbra in the gut throwing the latter back, resulting in him crashing through several thick trees before finally coming to a stop.

"You think we got him?" Issei asked tentatively. "I sure as hell hope so" Natsu replied.

_**With the rest of the group…**_

The 3 remaining Devils and the 4 mages stood a few metres apart from their combatants, preparing to strike

"_Sword Birth_!" Yuuto shouted, spawning multiple demonic swords that surrounded him and cleaved through the earth, stopping at the hilt, where he could pick them up. He chose two swords and faced his enemies, preparing for the first strike.

"Impressive" Gray said noticing the Devil's skill. He himself began moulding his ice weapon "_Ice Make: Battle Axe_!" A battle axe made entirely of hardened ice formed in the mage's hand.

Rias looked over at Wendy and Asia "You two stay back! This might get ugly."

"If I may intervene, Wendy is more than capable of looking after herself" Erza suggested smiling at the Sky Dragon Slayer.

"If that's the case then…" Rias said albeit still nervously.

"I'll try my best!" Wendy said.

"Good luck!" Happy and Carla shouted.

"Before we start I think I should help everyone. _Arms X Vernier_!" Wendy suggested.

"Why does my body feel so light all of a sudden?" Yuuto asked.

"It's because Wendy increased both our speed and offensive output" Gray explained.

"Nice!" Yuuto remarked.

"Time to show these guys why it's wrong to mess with us!" Erza said, equipping into her Heaven's Wheel Armour

Lucy pulled out a key and shouted "I open thee, Gate of the Gate, Capricorn!" and with that a large humanoid goat in a black suit appeared in a puff of smoke, his fists enveloped clenched. "Lucy-sama, how may I be of assistance?"

Lucy smiled, "I need you to help everyone dispatch of those guys over there she said pointing towards the grunts!"

"As you wish master" he said, bowing his head slightly before turning around to assist Yuuto, Wendy and Gray in the assault.

Yuuto and Gray advanced with their enhanced speed with their respective weapons held in hand.

Wendy reared up and shouted "_Sky Dragon's Wing Attack_!" generating two large whirlwinds in each hand before throwing them at the enemy.

"_Blumenblatt_!" Erza shouted, causing all her currently equipped swords to fly at her opponent.

"Oh shit!" one of the grunts started…

_**With Natsu and Issei…**_

Their thoughts were soon dashed as Umbra stood up and began laughing. "Hahahaha you two _really _think you can defeat me?! I am an S Class mage, someone who has years of experience more than the two of you with regards to honing my magical techniques. " he said. As he walked towards the two, his damaged body parts began emitting smoke and the skin resealed his wounds which now looked several days old. "Whilst Dragon Slayers can enhance their magical powers and God Slayers can heal injuries, Devil Slayers can regrow limbs if need be. We are nigh indestructible" he laughed.

"_Boost_!" shouted Issei's Scared Gear for the sixth time. "I'm reaching my limit, if I don't use my magic soon, I'll be unable to help you" He said to Natsu.

"Well then…let's take him down before that!" Natsu said with a grin.

The two mages and the devil stared each other off before – "I'm actually getting tired of this. You know Salamander, I thought you'd be much more of a challenge considering you've beaten the likes of Jellal Fernandes, Master Zero, Master Hades and the Flame God Slayer Zancrow, however you proved me wrong. It's time to end this fight!" Umbra shouted. "I have things to do and places to go, I can't afford to waste my time with you two!"

"_DEVIL SLAYER'S SECRET ART: PUNISHING FLAME_!" Umbra bellowed. He spread his arms out formed two large balls of white flame that steadily grew until the merged together. Suddenly the ball of flame grew exponentially larger and the immense amount of magical pressure threw the Natsu and Issei backwards. Umbra then released the fireball and directed it towards the two of them who were engulfed by its flames.

Nearby Erza, Gray Rias and the rest were hit with some of the after effects of the attack and were thrown off balance. "What was that?!" Lucy asked.

"Did you feel the amount of magical pressure in the air?" Erza asked anxiously.

They had just finished dealing with the grunts who had initially accompanied Umbra.

"Natsu and Issei must be in trouble!" Gray shouted. The group rushed through the forest towards their two fallen comrades who were knocked unconscious to see Umbra levitating in the air with what looked like a pair of white, glowing wings. He looked down at the group and sneered "You should bring stronger mages next time. These two were pretty easy. I hear Laxus Dreyar is strong, I'd like to spar with him sometime"

"If you're a man, you'll take me on!" Erza growled angrily.

"Titania…Whilst I would enjoy a fight with you, I feel like my job here is done. I've taught those two a lesson they won't soon forget. Although I see you've taken down my guild members too. Let's say we do this fairly; you allow me to take my members away and I'll let you tend to your fallen friends" Umbra said.

Erza did a double take. "What?" she asked.

"You heard me. I teleport my fellow guild members away and you tend to your fallen" he repeated.

Erza looked him in the eye and realised he was utterly serious. "Fine, but the next time I see you I will personally make sure that you feel my wrath" she warned him.

He laughed. "I look forward to it" and with that he moved over to his guild members and in a flash of bright light, they were gone.

"We need to see how much damage's been done to those two" Gray advised.

Wendy rushed forward and squeaked "I can heal Issei-san and Natsu-san"

"I'll help too" Asia said. The two began using their healing magic to help Natsu and Issei recover.

"Once they two are able to get up, we should return to the guild" Rias advised.

"Agreed" were the general consensus.

After a few minutes both Wendy and Asia had finished administering their healing spells and Natsu and Iseei soon sat up, albeit groggily.

"What happened?" Issei asked.

"You were knocked out by the Devil Slayer" Rias explained.

"Damn! I so wanted to kick his ass" Natsu shouted "Dammit!"

"Natsu calm down. Just…calm down. It's over, he left there's nothing we can do at this moment in time except go back to the guild and allow the two of you to heal" Lucy said worriedly.

_**Back the guild**_

The guild hall was as loud as usual, although noticeably quieter than normal seeing as Natsu and Gray were absent. The Devils sat together on a table and talked among themselves all except one male who stood apart from the rest of the Devils as well as the mages. He leant against a pillar away from everyone else, clearly not wanting to be disturbed or interested in anyone's conversations.

"How long have these guys been gone?" Elfman asked.

"It's been a few hours at the least, they should be back soon" his younger sister, Lisanna replied.

Just then a purple haired girl stood up from where the Devils were seated. She had a very slender figure, much like most of the other female Devils as well as the female mages in the guild. Her face was illuminated by a bright smile, one you couldn't help but like. She walked over to the two siblings and said "They're actually on their way home as we speak. I'm Akeno, Akeno Himejima. I'm Rias' right hand woman. She just contacted me saying everything's fine…for the most part- if you're wondering how I knew."

"What do you mean 'for the most part'?" Lisanna replied.

Just then the doors opened and the group made their way into the guild; Natsu and Issei both covered in bandages around their abdomen and chest.

There was a collective gasp around the guild; No one has EVER seen Natsu return from a mission covered in bandages. It was a fist for everybody in Fairy Tail.

"What're you all staring at?" Natsu asked smiling. Issei was a little more subdued.

"Natsu, Issei…what happened?" Makarov asked "Who did this to the two of you?"

"Hey Gramps! Don't worry about it. We just had a tussle with a dark mage, is all…Erm…what was his name again? It started with a J, I think"

"YOU'VE ALREADY FORGOTTEN?!" Lucy shouted, sweat dropping

"Yep he's forgotten already. That's Natsu for you" Happy smirked.

Erza began explaining to Makarov "We scouted the area surrounding the guild just like you ordered before Gary realised that they were transporting something out in trucks that were heading towards Magnolia, through the forest. After tailing them we were caught by an S Class mage of Imperios Draconos who went by the name of Umbra."

"I have heard of some of his misdeeds through the reports the Magic Council "Makarov commented.

Erza then continued "I led the rest of the group to safety and began an attack against the mage's subordinates whilst I left Umbra to Natsu and Issei. Sadly they were overwhelmed and Umbra then…"

"What?! What did he do?" Makarov inquired sharply

"He asked for us to allow him to tend to his comrades, so that we could help Natsu and Issei" Erza said almost as though she were afraid.

Everyone looked at Makarov who said nothing for a few seconds. "I am genuinely surprised that a dark mage would care for his comrades at all…Regardless the important thing is that all of you returned relatively unharmed. As for you two" he said nodding at Issei and Natsu "You did well to stand up to a mage of his calibre. The two of you take a well-earned rest." He said turning away and striding back to his office.

However before he could even take four steps, a mighty _**BOOM **_shook the guild hall, causing some plaster to fall. "What the hell was that?!" Gray shouted.

Everyone ran outside to see what the commotion was. They could see civilians screaming and running past the guild hall, _away _from something. In the distance they could see that a large column of black smoke had arisen.

"What happened over there?!" Erza said turning to her guild mates and the Devils in confusion. No-one had any idea.

"There's some crazy woman out there that just blew up the chemical plant!" one civilian shouted as he ran past, he stopped at the guild hall and seeing all its members out looked at them and pleaded "Please help! Who knows what could happen if this continues!"

"We need to go and take that person down!" Natsu shouted.

"No" Makarov said simply.

"But Master…!" the guild members began protesting.

"No, what needs to happen is that only a few members need to go, that way the rest of us can help evacuate the civilians and protect them should any other explosions occur. Natsu you're already heavily injured. Any more damage could be fatal" He explained "Gajeel go and see what happened whilst I prepare teams to help the civilians" Makarov inspected.

"Gihi…I'll do what you say old man!" Gajeel laughed "And Salamnder watch closely. I'll teach you how not to get your ass kicked!"

"Hey come and say that to my face!" Natsu shouted back.

Erza thumped his head "Not now you idiot, we need to help the civilians."

Rias turned to Makatov "Judging by what we've already seen and heard, the chances of it being another attack by Imperios Draconis could be high. If that's the case, then Gajeel'll need more help seeing as how strong their mages are."

"You're right" Makarov said "Anyone you'd like to nominate?" he asked.

"As a matter of fact, yes. Seeing as Issei is out of commission, the rest of my peerage will be more help to civilians and the person I'd like to nominate _enjoys _fighting, he'd be the perfect person to deter the dark mages" she explained

"As you wish" Makarov replied, turning back to sorting out teams.

Rias turned to the man who had distanced himself from the group; the one who had stayed quite throughout the whole encounter and had yet to speak to any member of the guild. He was a tall and lean muscular man with silvery-almost white hair. On his arm lay a white Sacred Gear – a Longinus Sacred Gear. Rias looked at him and asked "You ready?"

The white haired male, looked her in the eye and said seriously "I was _born _ready".

He then ran off to catch up to Gajeel.

A few minutes later, he'd reached the Iron Dragon Slayer. Gajeel looked at him and smirked "You're one of those Devils, right? Come to see how a true mage of Earthland fight? Salamander was just outdone. Me? I'll whoop anyone's ass. Gihi…"

"I have come to assist you" the white haired man answered,

"What's your name?" Gajeel asked "and why do you smell…" he sniffed the air around the man. "Why do you smell similar to…to…a dragon?"

The white haired man looked at him as they continued running "Your sense of smell does not betray you. I am the strongest wielder of the Longinus Divine Dividing Sacred Gear within which the White Dragon, Albion resides. My name is Vali Lucifer"

**Annnd I'll end it right there. For anyone wondering WHY this chapter is much longer compared to the other two, it's because I want to flesh the story out a lot more and I hope I've done that for this chapter. Hope you liked it and don't forget to review it (because at the end of the day this is for you guys, I don't gain anything apart from experience and a means to exercise my passion for writing and reading as well as my love for anime.) Until the next time guys (and gals), peace!**


End file.
